All I Want For Christmas
by fananicfan
Summary: This was my entry to the holiday challenge at the HBX.  The title kind of sums up this story, but who is making the request, and will they get what they want are the questions that you'll find the answers to in this one-shot story.


The usual disclaimer applies, I don't own them. I'm not going to make any money on this, so please don't sue me.

This story takes place after the end of the series, and during the Christmas shopping season. I want to say that I've never been to the shopping mall in the story, so if you have and it's not accurate as to logistics, please humor me, and roll with it. 

**All I Want For Christmas **

**DECEMBER 5, 2010**

**TYSON CORNER CENTER**

**MC LEAN, VA**

**HARM'S POV**

This certainly isn't my idea of a good way to spend a winter Sunday afternoon, I think as I pull the car up to the curb to let Mac and Mattie out near the door so that they can get started on their shopping while I find a parking space in this white wasteland that just last week was a well-marked parking lot.

As soon as I bring our SUV to a stop, the two passenger doors, front and back, open.

Mac and Mattie get out and look back in at me.

"It'll save time if we split up to shop," Mac says, standing outside the open door and letting in a rush of cold air. "I have my cellphone. Do you have yours, Mattie?"

That might be the silliest question that she's ever asked Mattie. She's home from college for the winter break, making the phone not only essential in case her boyfriend calls, but what would she do if she couldn't inform her friends via text, twitter or by post to a social network page of her current location?

"I've got mine right here," Mattie says, lifting the device into the air.

Before she can ask because I'm anxious for her to close the door so that the cold wind blowing into the vehicle will cease, I announce, "I've got mine, too."

"Okay," Mac says, reaching into her coat pocket and pulling out a piece of paper. "I've got my list -"

"Don't forget to check it twice," Mattie says, interrupting Mac, but causing her to chuckle at the reference to Mac's list as if it were Santa's list of who'd been naughty and nice.

"I will. I wouldn't want to leave out anyone," Mac says to Mattie before returning her focus to me. "Harm, call me when you've finished your shopping so that we can look for something for Trish and Frank together."

"Okay, if I ever find a space to park." That sounded a little snarky, so I add in a much nicer tone, "I'll do some shopping and then give you a call."

"Sounds good," she says before taking a step backwards and closing the car door.

Once sealed inside the heated vehicle, I put the SUV into gear and slowly pull away from the curb to hunt for a parking spot.

**MAC'S POV**

Having just purchased four new toys, I step out of the toy store and stop to pull out my list to check off the names of the Roberts' children.

I have my pen in hand and I'm half done with the check next to Jimmy's name, when someone runs into me, pulling one of the corded straps from the paper shopping bag and sending the doll to the floor that I'd just purchased for Nikki.

Stooping to pick up the fallen gift, I hear the deep voice of a man above me say, "Are you okay, my dear?"

With the addition of 'my dear' at the end of his question, my mind has gone from willing to dismiss the hit as a simple bump caused by the added volume of people in the mall who are Christmas shopping to 'I can't believe that this guy thinks that he can run into me, ask me if I'm okay, apologize, make small talk and then ask me to go out with him.'

"Santa!" I hear a young girl call out as I bring myself back to my full height, prepared to tell this guy that the 'oops, I bumped into you' way to pick up a woman isn't going to work on me, especially now that I'm very much in love and happily married to Harm.

"Ho, Ho, Ho, Merry Christmas." I hear as my eyes take in the sight of Santa standing right in front of me.

Santa is the man who bumped into me?

In disbelief, I say his name like a question, "Santa?"

"Yes, my dear," he replies jovially as he waves to the young girl who, I presume, had called out to him.

With the attention called to him by his young fan, he's quickly becoming an attraction.

"Duty calls, but stop by Santa Land here in the mall and I'll replace the doll that I might have damaged when we collided," he says before he has children congregated around him.

Feeling that I shouldn't scold Santa Claus in front of his young fans, I refrain from saying anything about how inappropriate I believe it is for Santa to be trying to get a date while he's 'in uniform', so I offer him a nod to let him know that I heard him before I return my focus to my shopping list.

**MEANWHILE SOME WHERE ELSE IN THE MALL**

**HARM'S POV**

With the harrowing hunt for a parking space behind me, I find that I'm more relaxed and singing along with the Christmas carols being piped through the mall to keep shoppers in the holiday spirit while everyone suffers the stress of finding the perfect gifts for family, friends and loved ones.

Being married has certainly made my Christmas shopping easier. I now shop for Mac and Mattie and give my input on gifts for my parents. Mac buys gifts for everyone else, but signs the gift tags 'from Harm and Mac'. Yes, being married is great!

To be more accurate, being married to Mac is great. We've been married for five years now, and though the first year didn't go as smoothly as I'd have liked, I've never regretted marrying Mac and I consider all five years to be wonderful ones.

That first year wasn't bad. We all just needed time to adjust to the sudden changes in our lives. For me, it was having both Mattie and Mac not only in my life, but under the same roof, and, of course, the promotion to captain and the move to London. However, I had it easy when compared to what the two of them had to adjust.

For Mattie, not only had she been recently involved in a near fatal accident, but she had months of work ahead of her in order to walk again, and when combined with the move to London and having not only me but Mac in her life, as well, there were days when I'm sure that she felt overwhelmed.

For Mac, it was living with me and a teenager who, if not emotionally irrational at times because of the normal drama of being a teenage girl, had fits of rage and despair associated with her recovery from the serious injuries that she'd suffered in the plane crash. There was more for Mac, too. Though General Cresswell had intervened and requested a different duty assignment for one of us so that we could be stationed near each other, the first assignment that came up put her in London with me. So, she'd had to give up the opportunity to have her own command, which would've assured her of a promotion to full colonel.

We spent the first two years of our marriage in London, and then General Cresswell saw to it that Mac got the opportunity to have her own command, and we spent the next two years in San Diego, where Mac was at last CO of Joint Legal Services, Southwest, and she made colonel.

Now, we're back in the DC area. As Admiral Rabb, I'm the Judge Advocate General, following Cresswell's retirement, and Mac is working at the Pentagon as a legal advisor with the Department of Homeland Security.

Swinging the one shopping bag in my hand containing the one item that I've purchased so far, a bottle of perfume for Mac, I look in the window of a jewelry store.

After scanning the items in the display window, I think that I might find something for one of the two women on my list inside, so I venture inside the store to see if something catches my eye for either Mac or Mattie.

Of course, nothing from Mattie's list will be in this store.

I chuckle to myself as I think about the conversation that Mac and I had with Mattie about her wish list.

"So, what's on your list for Santa this year?" I'd asked Mattie while the three of us were sipping coffee after eating breakfast on the morning that she was leaving to return to school after having been home for Thanksgiving.

She'd replied with, "All I want for Christmas ..." before listing at least a dozen things that would make her happy to see under the tree.

I know that Mac is going to fill her stocking with gift cards for restaurants that we know are near her school so that she eats more than pizza while she's away from home, but I didn't discuss with Mac what she was planning to give her as a gift, so I'll either have to go off on my own or call Mac to ask her if she's bought anything yet or if she knows what she's going to get so that I can buy something else.

Uncertain that the item that caught my eye is the right gift, I decide to keep shopping and come back for it if I don't find anything else. As I step out of the store and back into the mall, my cellphone rings.

After retrieving my phone from my pocket, I look at the caller ID. It's Mac, not work, so I answer it cheerfully.

"Hey, Mac. Don't tell me that you've called to tell me that you're done with your shopping."

"No, I'm not done with OUR shopping," she corrects before stating the reason that she called me. "I'm starting to get hungry, so I called to find out if you wanted to join me for lunch."

"I could use a break from shopping. What about Mattie? Do you want me to call her to have her join us, too?"

"I've already called her. She's run into someone she knows, Susan something from high school, and they're going to grab something to eat and catch up, so it'll be just you and me."

"Just the two of us sounds good to me. When do you want me to meet you?"

"I'm exchanging the doll that I bought for Nikki in case it was damaged when the bag ripped and it fell on floor. I'm next in line, so it shouldn't be too much longer. You could start to make your way to the food court now, and I'll head over there as soon as I'm finished here."

"Okay, see you in a few minutes."

"It's my turn at the checkout. Bye," she says hurriedly before she cuts our connection.

**NEAR THE FOOD COURT**

**MINUTES LATER **

I'm standing near the oversized Christmas tree near the food court, which is a few feet away from the entrance to Santa Land, scanning the crowd for my wife.

"May I help you, Sir?"

I must have been staring more intently at the crowd of children with their parents making their way into Santa Land than I'd thought because the woman's voice startles me.

I turn to look at the woman.

"No, I'm just waiting for my wife," I state.

"If you're going to select an ornament, I can get you started, and she can join you when she gets here."

"Select an ornament?" I ask with some confusion.

"Oh, I guess you didn't realize that you're standing by our Christmas for Kids table," the woman about my age informs me.

"What's Christmas for Kids?" I ask her.

"It's a non-profit group that tries to make sure that each child at the local group home gets a gift from Santa. This year, with the economy being what it is, we're trying to get more assistance from the public by asking them to choose an ornament and buy and donate the item that the child has written on it."

"Harm!" I hear Mac call out to me.

"I'm going to have lunch with my wife and then I'll stop by to get an ornament," I say to the woman before turning to greet Mac.

"Hey, Mac," I say, moving in to place a quick kiss on her lips before we move off towards the food court.

**AFTER LUNCH**

Once I'd purposed to Mac, she'd brought up her chances of ever conceiving and was up front with the fact that she wasn't comfortable with "other ways" of having a child, so I had to know that, if I went through with marrying her, I'd probably never have a child of my own and that she'd completely understand if I wanted to change my mind. I explained to her that night that I was in love with her and, child or not, I wanted to marry her. I don't regret my choice in any way. We've had the normal ups and downs, but we've been very happy.

During lunch, Mac asked who I was speaking to when she arrived, and I hadn't avoided answering her, but I did reply with a vague answer, saying, "She was with a group who are seeking donations for the holidays."

Five years later, I know that the subject of children is still one that can bring her to tears. To tell her about the children without presents or a home, especially at this time of year, would serve only to upset her and make her cry.

I find the woman who spoke to me earlier to tell her that I'll take not just one ornament, but two. The second one is because Mac would have taken one if I'd told her about the gifts for the children.

**SAME TIME**

**MAC'S POV**

I'm making my way out of the food court towards the next store on my list.

I'm not normally so military with my shopping, but with our recent move back to the Washington area, life has been more hectic, and that means that, if I'm going to get the task done before Christmas Day, I needed to have a plan.

Passing alongside a fence that had been erected to keep people from wandering into Santa Land, I hear a man's voice.

"I was beginning to think that you weren't going to come by."

I think that's a strange thing for Santa to say to a child, so I glance towards Santa Land.

There, in a pair of jeans and a white shirt with a red sweater vest over it, is an elderly man who's staring at me.

He waves something in the air.

"I have your replacement doll!" he shouts above the noise of the crowd of children who are waiting in line to see Santa.

"Santa?" I say like a question.

"Not any more. My shift was over an hour ago, but I was when I bumped into you," the man with rosy cheeks replies as he approaches me.

"There's no need for you to replace it. I had no trouble getting the store to exchange it for me," I explain to him.

"I'm glad to hear that the spirit of the season is with them," he says with a jovial chuckle.

It's strange that, though he's no longer dressed in a red suit, he still seems very much like Santa Claus. Maybe it's his white beard.

"I tell you what, my dear. You don't need it and neither do I, so let's go over to the Christmas for Kids tree to see if this will fill the request of a special little girl, shall we?" he asks with a twinkle in his eye.

Compelled to help Santa, I abandon my tactical plan to complete the majority of my Christmas shopping today and agree to join him in donating the doll.

Soon I find myself standing near an oversized Christmas tree and in front of an older woman.

"We seem to have an extra doll here, Mrs. James. Do you think that there's some little girl on your list who might enjoy this toy on Christmas morning?"

"I do, Nick. Thank you," Mrs. James answers.

"Don't thank me. This nice woman is donating it. I just merely showed her the way here."

"Well, thank you, Ma'am."

"Are you Santa's helpers?" I ask.

"I guess you could say that," the man who Mrs. James called Nick says with a chuckle benefitting Santa Claus.

Mrs. James goes on to explain that she's a volunteer and that they're gathering toys for children at the county group home.

I get choked up and I feel the sting of tears in my eyes as I ask for an ornament.

Once I've pulled one of the paper circle 'ornaments' from the tree, I look down to read the child's request so that I can set a course for the proper store to acquire it.

Near the top where the 'ornament' hangs on the tree, someone has either printed or stamped the words: 'All I want for Christmas is ...'

Then, printed by a child's hand underneath that is: 'a home, Jessica.'

My tears run freely down my cheeks.

Never having witnessed that kind of response to a child's request, Mrs. James responds immediately to my obvious distress.

"If you don't think that the gift is appropriate..." Her voice trails off, and she changes the direction of her comment. "...let me take that one and you select another one."

"It's a gift that requires an open heart and the ability to love … that's all," Nick says softly.

"I need to speak with my husband."

It's then that I hear Harm's voice call my name.

"Mac?"

I turn and rush to him.

"Harm, have you bought a gift for me yet?"

"No, I got a little distracted at the toy store. I was going to look for your gift and Mattie's as soon as I brought these two gifts back to the volunteers here."

"Well, I don't want you to buy a gift for me this year. All I want for Christmas is to give a child a home."

"We've talked about adoption before, Mac, but you've never wanted to do it. Why now?"

"This," I say before showing him the words on the paper "ornament" in my hand, and after giving him a moment to read the request, I add, "I'm sure, Harm. I want to make Jessica's wish come true."

"If you're sure," Harm says.

"Then let's see if Mrs. James or Nick can help us make it happen."

I turn around, and there's no Mrs. James and no Nick.

"They were just here. Where did they go?"

I walk up to the woman who I saw Harm speaking with earlier. "Where is Mrs. James?"

"We don't have a Mrs. James who works for us, but I'd be happy to help you if you'd like to make a donation."

"Do you know Nick?" I ask her.

"St. Nick, sure, but I haven't seen him today," she replies cheerfully.

Unnerved by the sudden disappearance of not one but two people with whom I'd just been speaking, I'm left temporarily speechless, so I show her the "ornament".

"Oh, I'm so sorry, dear. No wonder you're a bit rattled. Where did you get it?"

"Off the tree," I reply in a shaky voice.

"How did that happen? I didn't even think that we brought it with us. I replaced it with one where I wrote in a doll for Jessica's request," she says, a bit shaken by the mix up.

**HARM'S POV**

Mac looks ghostly pale.

"Are you okay, Mac?" I ask.

"Yes, I'm fine," she replies while shaking her head, much like I do when I come out of the water after a swim to shake the water out of my ears.

"Does Jessica still need a home?" Mac asks in full voice and sounding as if she's regained her senses.

"Yes, she does," the woman answers.

"We want to make her Christmas wish for a home come true. How do we do that?" Mac's voice is firm, and her tone is one of determination.

Harm and Mac would meet Jessica and tell her that they wanted to give her a home on Christmas Eve, but it would be Christmas morning 2011 before Jessica would wake up in her own bed in her own room and race to the tree to open presents with her parents and big sister, Mattie.

THE END


End file.
